Composing-stick.



U ITE STATES Patented October 11, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

REUBEN D. TITTLE, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO PRINTERS STICKCOMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, A COPARTNERSHIP.

COMPOSlNG-STICK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,116, dated October11, 1904.

Application filed March 31, 1904.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN D. TrrTLn, a citizen of the United States,resid ing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Im provements in Composing-Sticks, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to composing-sticks,

and has for its object to provide a construction whereby the slide orknee may be locked in any desired position throughout its range ofmovement longitudinally of the body of the stick, said locking mechanismserving to positively and accurately maintain the guiding or definingface of the slide parallel with the opposite face of the fixed end wallof the stick and at right angles to the longitudinal wall thereof. 7

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features, which Iwill now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a'top plan view of acomposing-stick embodying my invention in one form.- Fig. 2 is-a bottomplan view of the same. Fig.3 is a transverse sectional view taken on theline :0 m of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows, the samebeing on a somewhat large scale. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portionof Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of another portion of Fig. 3. Fig.6 is a sectional view through the slide detached, taken on the line y yof Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 7 is adetail sectional view taken on the line 2 z of Fig. 5 and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Composing-sticks have been heretofore constructed or proposed providedwith various devices for clamping or locking the slide in position uponthe body;- but so far as I am aware these devices have been of such anature that in course of time the wearof the parts would permit theworking face of the slide, by which I mean the guiding or defining faceagainst which the ends of the rows of type abut, to deviate from itsproper position parallel with the fixed end wall of the Serial No.200,988. (No model.)

ties carried by the body of .the stick being arranged in two parallellongitudinal rows located near the edges thereof and the slide beingprovided with cooperating devices near its ends, so that when the partsare interlocked the slide is positively locked to the stick at twowidely-separated points near the ends of the slide and the lateral edgesof the stick, thus insuring its being maintained in proper .positionupon the body of the stick.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates the body of thestick, in the usual form of a flat plate provided at one end with thefixed end wall 2 and having the fixed back wall 3 extending along one ofits longitudinal edges. 4

4 indicates the knee or slide, mounted to slide longitudinally upon thestick and comprising the body portion 5, having the working or definingface 6, which is to be maintained parallel with the opposite face of theend wall 2 and at right angles to the inner face of the back wall 3.This body 5 rests upon the upper side of the plate 1, which forms thebody of the stick, and is connected at its ends by end plates 7 and 8,with a bottom plate 9, which lies beneath the under side of the plate 1,there being thus formed a slot or opening 10 between the body-plate 9and the body 5 of the slide, through which slot or opening the plate 1passes. A vertical slot or opening 11 'is formed between the end plate 8and body 5 to receive the back wall or flange 3 of the stick, and aguide-plate 12 extends downward on the inner side of the wall 3, thesaid guide-plate'being attached to or forming part of the slide 4. Thetwo parallel plates 8 and 12 form guiding-plates having an extendedbearing on opposite sides of the back wall 3 of the stick.

13 indicates a locking-plate mounted on the upper side of the bottomplate 9 of the slide,

jections.

which is provided with lateral guide-flanges 14 to maintain saidlocking-platein proper relation to the said bottom. This lockingplate ismovable toward and from the plate 1, its movement being preferablyeffected by means of a screw 15, mounted in a threaded aperture 16 inthe bottom plate 9, provided with an operating-head 17 below said bottomplate and having its inner end swiveled in the locking-plate 13, asshown in detail at 18 in Fig. 4, or in any other suitable manner. Thelocking-plate 13 is provided near each of its ends with lockingprojections 19, extending upward therefrom, and the under side of theplate 1 is provided near each of its longitudinal edges with a row oflocking-recesses 20, as shown-more particularly in Fig. 2. Thearrangement of the recesses on the part 1 and projections on the part 13is merely a preferential one. The form which I prefer to give theseprojections and recesses is that shown, the projections havingoutwardly-converging flat sides and a curved edge, while the recessesare in the form of grooves having similarlyconverging flat sides and-acurved bottom, the curvature being longitudinal of the grooves, whilethe curvature of the edge of the projections is also longitudinalrelatively to the pro- The two curvatures have different radii, that ofthe groove or recess 20 being 7 less than that of the projection 19, aswill be seen from an inspection of Fig. 5. By reason of thisconstruction provision is made to compensate for wear between the edgeof the projections and the bottom of the recesses, the projectionsentering more deeply into the recesses as such wear takes place. It willbe understood that the purpose of the converging sides of theprojections and the correspondingly-inclined sides of the recesses orgrooves is to cause said projections and recesses to bear firmly againsteach other when engaged, so asto prevent any movement of the sliderelatively to the stick. It will also be understood that when the screw15 is so rota-ted as to cause the locking-plate 13 to withdraw itsprojections from engagement with the recesses20 the slide maybe freelymoved along the body of the stick to any desiredposition. \Vhen theslide has been thus positioned, it may be positively locked inthatposition by so turning the screw 15 as to move the locking-plate 13toward the plate 1 and engage the projections of the one with therecesses of the other. The recesses 20 are arranged in two parallelrows, and each pair of opposite recesses of the two rows is in a planeexactly parallel with the inner face of the end wall 2, while thelocking projections on the plate 13 are similarly parallel with theworking face of the slide 4:. Thus when the slide is locked in positionits working face is parallel with the working face of the end wall 2,and owing to the fact that the slide and stick are positivelyinterlocked at two widely-separated points near the ends of the slideand the lateral edges of the stick the slide will maintain itself in itsadjusted position. This result is obtained much more effectually by myimproved construction than where reliance is placed upon the lateralbearing-surfaces between the slide and stick, which becomes inaccuratethrough wear, or upon a single locking connection, which does not givethe requisite firmness. It will further be noted that the slide isslotted in such a way that it not only has an extended bearing upon theopposite surfaces of the back wall 3 of the stick, but also bears uponthe opposite edges of the body 1 of the stick and upon the upper andlower surfaces thereof. This materially aids in holding the slide inproper position relatively to the fixed end wall 2, since the ability ofthe body 1 to resist strains which would tend to effect the parallelismof the slide by moving one of its ends away from the end wall 2 in thedirection of the plane of the bodyis equally great throughout the entirelength of said body, since these strains are exerted edgewise on thebody, while the capacity of the back wall 3 to resist such strainsdecreases progressively as the slide moves away from the fixed end wall,for

' the reason that these strains are exerted in a direction at rightangles to the plane of the back wall, which is braced to resist suchstrains at one end by the fixed end wall, but is not so bracedelsewhere, the bracing effect of' the fixed end wall diminishing inproportion to the distance from its point of union wit-h the back wall.

It will be observed that the upper surface of the fiat body of the stickand the inner faces of the end and back walls of thestick, which are thesurfaces with which the type comes into contact when the stick is inuse, are smooth continuous surfaces free from apertures, teeth, orindentations of any kind, the front edge of the fiat body of thestickbeing smooth and continuous and presenting an even and uniform surfaceto the hand of the compositor. It will also be notedthatthe slide isfixed against lateral motion with respect to the body of the stick andmaintains its engagement therewith during adjustment.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise detailsof construction hereinbefore described, and shown in the'accompanyingdrawings, as the same may obviously be modified without departing fromthe principle of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a composing-stick, the combination, with the body of a stickhaving a smooth continuous front edge, of a slide movable longitudinallyon said body and bearing against the lateral edges thereof as guides,and means for positively locking said slide in adjusted position on saidbody, said locking means comprising two sets of interlocking deviceslocated on opposite sides of the central longitudinal plane of thestick, substantially as described.

2. In a composing-stick, the combination, with a stick-bod y having asmooth continuous upper surface and lateral edges, of a slide movablelongitudinally on said body and bearing against the lateral edgesthereof as guides, said stick-body being provided on its under side withtwo rows of interlocking devices located on opposite sides of thecentral longitudinal plane of the stick, the slide being provided withmeans for simultaneously engaging both of said rows of locking devices,substantially as described.

3. In a composing-stick, the combination, with the body of the stick, ofa slide apertured for the passage therethrough of the body of the stick,a locking-plate mounted in the slide underneath the body of the stick,and means carried by the slide for moving the lockingplate toward andfrom the body of the stick, said locking-plate and the under side of thestick-body being provided with cooperating interlocking recesses andprojections arranged in two sets near the lateral edges of the body andnear the ends of the slide, substantially as described.

i. In a composing-stick, the combination, with a body having formed inits under side near each lateral edge thereof a row of recesses, of aslide apertured to fit said body, said slide having mounted and guidedin it a locking-plate provided near its ends with projections to engageand fit the recesses of the body, and a screw threaded through thebottom plate of the slide, provided with an external operating head, andhaving its end swiveled in the locking-plate, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a composing-stick of the character described, the combination,with a body having two parallel rows of locking-recesses arranged inopposite pairs, each recess having side walls and alongitudinally-curved bottom, of a slide provided with a locking-platehaving cooperating locking projections having flat sides and a curvededge, substantially as described.

6. In a composing-stick of the character described,'the combination,with a body having scribed, the combination, with a body having twoparallel rows of locking-recesses in opposite pairs, each recess havinginwardly-converging side Walls, and a longitudinally-curved bottom, of aslide provided with a lockingplate having cooperating lockingprojections with corresponding converging flat sides and a curved edge,the curvature of the bottom of the recesses having a radius shorter thanthe curvature of the edge'of the projections, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a composing-stick, the combination, with a stick-body having asmooth continuous upper surface and lateral edges, said body beingprovided on its under side with a row of interlocking devices, of aslide movable longitudinally on said body and bearing against thelateral edges thereof as guides, said slide being provided with meansfor engaging the interlocking devices on the under side of thestick-body, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

REUBEN D. TITTLE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. KUNKLE, IRVINE MILLER.

